Cerebral Palsy Alliance are hiring a Full Time Family Therapist in Penshurst for a 12 month maternity leave position.

This role requires regular travel throughout the region. Cerebral Palsy Alliance offer a family friendly environment and an excellent professional development program for staff through peer support, supervision and access to continuing education.

The role exists to:

• Assist families at risk with a child or adolescent with a disability to develop what they need to help maintain their child or adolescent safely within the home
• Assist families to identify what they need to maintain their child safely in their home
• Assist families to develop meaningful goals and practical strategies to meet their goals
• Utilise a strengths based, solution focussed framework in work with clients and service partners
• Develop strong collaborative relationships with government and non-government service providers
• Utilise culturally sensitive practices with families from a wide range of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• Work within flexible hours including after hours and on call in order to meet the needs of families

Must have:

• Recognised degree in social work, psychology, social sciences or equivalent
• Ability to use a competency/solution focused model of intervention
• Understanding of cross cultural issues
• Substantial experience working with families
• Demonstrated good communication skills
• Current NSW drivers licence
• Ability to work flexible hours
• Computer Literacy

Great to have:

• Experience working with people with disabilities and their families
• Knowledge of Disability Services Act (NSW) and Disability Services Standards and implications for service delivery
• Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team

Closing date: 27 January 2012

Find out more about the Family Therapist role at Cerebral Palsy Alliance or search for jobs in disability and community care.

Up to 5600 jobs are anticipated to be available between now and 2015 in the disability and community care sector of northern New South Wales.

The sector is expected to boom in the next five years with employers looking to recruit 40,000 people; it is estimated that the number of people needing to access these services in New South Wales will rise to 350 000.

“There are several misconceptions about what it is like to work in this sector, yet most people simply aren’t aware of the benefits including: job security, flexible hours, varied and creative work, and on-the-job training,” says Patrick Maher, Chief Operating Officer of National Disability Services NSW.

To hear more about what working in the disability and community care sector is really like, read True Stories on carecareers.

Alstonville resident Sarah Jurd started working in the disability and community care sector 13 years ago and has held a variety of roles in that time: respite carer, teacher’s aide, support worker in vacation care, and most recently as a speech therapist with Cerebral Palsy Alliance.

“My parents were respite carers so I got involved at a young age because of them. We had a little girl with disabilities who came and lived with us for a while, and I learnt to help her and found that I enjoyed it,” says Jurd.

On the growth in the sector she says, “I have definitely seen an increase in the demand for our services in the last few years.

“There are a lot of children that need a lot of support, and it seems like there are not enough resources to meet that need, even now”.

For those who are considering a career in the sector Jurd says, ”It’s important to remember that clients are people who would like to be independent and just need some support to achieve that.”
 
“One of the benefits of working in the disability sector is that I work as part of a bigger a team no matter what area I’ve worked in; as a speech therapist I work closely with both occupational therapists and physiotherapists to find solutions to problems.

“I love working with the kids and their families; no child is ever the same and each client presents a new challenge for the team,” says Jurd.

“The work is also personally rewarding; I started out working with one family as their Respite Carer about 12 years ago, to support them and their children who have a disability. The family is as much a part of my life now as my own family is, and spending time with the children over the years has been great fun”.

More than 100 positions based in Lismore and the surrounding areas have been advertised through carecareers since its launch 12 months ago. Search for jobs now.

carecareers was developed by NDS to help meet the demand for new workers in the disability and community care sector. Head to carecareers and search for jobs now, or contact our Careers Centre online or by calling the help-line for job seekers on 1300 637 637.

Check out the photos from Poppy's Mt Fansipan fundraising trek, which she blogs about here.

(download)

Click here to download:

Poppys_photos_from_Vietnam.zip (85 KB)

Well, the thousands of squats, lunges, push ups and walking expeditions may have paid off for the killer 7 day trek up Mt Fansipan, in what was some of the worst conditions they had had in months (including torrential rain and thick fog), however nothing could have prepared me for what I was to experience at the Thuy An Disability Centre, which is 1.5 hours out of Hanoi in Vietnam...but I guess that’s why they call it the Vietnam Challenge!

Take a look at some of my photos from the trek and our visit to the Centre.

I signed up for the fundraising Challenge in late 2009 thinking I had a year to physically prepare my body for the intense mountain climb, and that the second half of the Challenge - volunteering at a disability centre in a remote village - would be a breeze, considering I work in the disability sector and have hands on experience with people who have all levels of disabilities.

From the time I arrived at the Thuy An Disability Centre I was continuously flooded with emotions. My heart was drawn immediately to the children who had the more severe disabilities. One child in particular stole my heart, Leanne, who is just one of over 100 children who live permanently at the Centre.

Through the beautiful smiles and laughter were innocent children who wanted to learn, be challenged, be hugged, be loved, and cared for. No doubt the carers at the Centre were doing a marvellous job, however they are grossly under-staffed, and ashamedly under-resourced.

Myself and the 10 other volunteers that participated in the Challenge (and raised money to get there) spent most of our days teaching the Centre's staff about new therapeutic exercises that could be used for the children with physical disabilities. Unfortunately for these children, their day only comprises of meal times and physical therapy - no means of education, not even drawing, colouring-in, painting, or playing with toys. This is probably what devastated me the most.

We did our best to share the knowledge we have, and we have plans to send over some new equipment, but what we wish we could really send is love, hugs, time to laugh and play, and adequate levels of staffing. I guess it just reflected how wonderful my job is and I can’t wait to go back over again sometime soon.

Since I’ve been back in Australia, 2011 has kicked off to a flying start; planning programs, organising outings for our clients, my university enrolment, blogging for carecareers.com.au, and even the opportunity to be involved in some upcoming media events for the carecareers campaign.

It’s going to be a pretty exciting year, with different goals and a different focus in my role at Cerebral Palsy Alliance. I will soon be a trained Life Needs Link Worker which will mean that, after an intense training course, I will begin looking at each client’s life with a more holistic, proactive and lifespan approach. My career always manages to keep me on my toes, allowing me to experience new and exciting challenges. :)

Later this year I will be setting myself a goal of climbing 3,143 metres to the highest summit in Indochina, Mt Fansipan in Vietnam, to make a difference to the lives of young adults living with cerebral palsy. I will be joined on this challenge with 12 other energetic, motivated, passionate and committed people, all aiming to raise both awareness and money for Cerebral Palsy Alliance (formerly The Spastic Centre).

Once our climb comes to an end we will then be spending 4 days volunteering in Thuy An, a centre that cares for children and adults with disabilities, many who have been affected by agent orange and who live with cerebral palsy.

I had set myself a goal of raising $7,500 for my challenge and thankfully to the generous support out there I am well on my way! I recently held a trivia night that was not only a brilliant night had by all, but I also raised over $4,000! (I was hoping for $2,500, so counting up the money at the end of the night was seriously exciting!)

Along with being fundraising mad I have also turned into a little bit of a fitness fanatic. The training for Mt Fansipan requires me to do a minimum of 4-5 cardio and weight sessions a week along with some outdoor trekking. I have also got right into rock climbing, cycle classes (it builds up great leg strength) and beach running.

Recently I went on a 5 day disability camp with Cerebral Palsy Alliance. It was up there with one of the best weeks of my life. The rewarding nature of taking away 20 medium to high needs clients to a wheelchair accessible camp facility on the Central Coast was endless.

Smiles, laughter, tears of happiness, bollywood parties, masterchef competitions, accessible motorbikes, karaoke, pelican feeding and discos, were just a few of the activities everyone enjoyed. It's one of the great parts of working in this field I must say!